Hard luggage case

ABSTRACT

A hard luggage case includes a cover portion and a body portion hinged to one side of the cover portion. The body portion is made of a rigid material for maintaining the luggage case in a fixed shape and providing sufficient supporting strength for carrying things, and includes a base section and an extension section telescopically fitted in the base section. An axially extendable structure is connected at two axially opposite ends to between the base section and the extension section, and is configured as a tubular member formed of a flexible material. A first fastening structure is correspondingly connected to along two facing ends of the base section and the extension section of the body portion; and a second fastening structure is correspondingly connected to along two facing ends of the cover portion and the extension section of the body portion.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a luggage case, and more particularly to a hard luggage case that is so configured that a user can adjust a receiving space thereof according to actual need in use and easily visually determine the remaining receiving space available in the luggage case.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A traveler often uses a luggage case to conveniently hold personal items and clothes therein. To protect the luggage case against damage during travel, most of the currently available luggage cases are so designed that they have an outer frame with a fixed shape and structural strength sufficient to resist forces externally applied thereto. The currently available luggage cases are also internally provided with binding straps or other holding means for holding personal items and clothes in place in the luggage cases.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional luggage case, which includes an inner frame 90 and an outer enclosure 91. The inner frame 90 includes an upper shell 92, a lower shell 93, and supporting rods 94 connected to between the upper and lower shells 92, 93. The outer enclosure 91 can be a cover made of thick cloth or injection-molded foam material, and is riveted or bonded to an outer side of the inner frame 90, so that the inner frame 90 supports the outer enclosure 91 to constitute a strong luggage case. Since the above-described conventional luggage case is relatively heavy, a hard luggage case with an outer enclosure providing sufficient supporting strength has been developed to overcome the problem with the conventional luggage case.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional hard luggage case, which includes a body portion 95 and a cover portion 96 both being made of a rigid material. The cover portion 96 and the body portion 95 are hinged to each other along two facing edges thereof, and the cover portion 96 is openably closed to an open side of the body portion 95 via a zipper correspondingly connected to the facing edges of the cover portion 96 and the body portion 95. To enable further increase of the receiving space in the hard luggage case, an extendable structure 97 is provided on the cover portion 96. The extendable structure 97 is configured as a sleeve-like woven member 98. By axially stretching the extendable structure 97, the receiving space in the luggage case can be increased.

However, in the process of packing the luggage case, a user usually puts the things to be carried in the body portion 95 instead of the cover portion 96 of the luggage case. When it is necessary to use the extendable structure 97 to expand the receiving space, the user has to pile all things in the body portion 95 beyond the open side thereof and then closes the cover portion 96 onto the body portion 95 with the extendable structure 97 in a stretched state. With this design, the user can not easily determine whether there is any remaining receiving space available for use before the cover portion 96 is closed onto the body portion 95. And, there are times the user fails to correctly determine the available receiving space and packs the luggage case with too many things. As a result, the cover portion 96 just could not be closed to the body portion 95 even if the extendable structure 97 has been fully stretched.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a hard luggage case that provides an expandable receiving space for carrying things, and allows a user to easily visually determine the remaining receiving space available in the luggage case.

To achieve the above and other objects, the hard luggage case according to the present invention includes a cover portion; a body portion including a base section and an extension section telescopically fitted in the base section, and the base section and the extension section being made of a rigid material to maintain the luggage case in its designed shape and to provide required supporting strength; at least one extendable structure being configured as a tubular member made of a flexible material and connected at two axially opposite ends to the base section and the extension section; a first fastening structure being correspondingly connected to along facing ends of the base section and the extension section; and a second fastening structure being correspondingly connected to along facing ends of the cover portion and the extension section.

In a preferred embodiment, the extendable structure is a tubular member formed by sewing woven fabrics together.

In a preferred embodiment, the first fastening structure is a zipper correspondingly connected to along two facing ends of the base section and the extension section of the body portion; and the second fastening structure is a zipper correspondingly connected to along two facing ends of the cover portion and the extension section of the body portion.

In another preferred embodiment, the cover portion is made of a rigid material and has a raised top with rounded edges and corners, and the cover portion and the body portion respectively have two wheels symmetrically mounted near a lower left and a lower right corner thereof.

In a further preferred embodiment, the base section and the extension section of the body portion respectively have two wheels symmetrically mounted near a lower left and a lower right corner thereof, such that the wheels are evenly distributed on a lower sidewall of the body portion.

The present invention is characterized in a hard luggage case that has rigid walls to provide lightweight but strong structure, a body portion including an extension section telescopically fitted in a base section, and an extendable structure connected to between the extension section and the base section of the body portion for axially stretching to expand the receiving space in the hard luggage case. And, by providing the extendable structure on the body portion instead of the cover portion of the luggage case, a user packing the luggage case can easily visually determine the remaining receiving space available in the luggage case.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional luggage case;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of another conventional luggage case;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a hard luggage case according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a hard luggage case according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 shows the manner of using the hard luggage case of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described with some preferred embodiments thereof and with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of easy to understand, elements that are the same in the preferred embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Please refer to FIG. 3 that is an exploded perspective view of a hard luggage case according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the hard luggage case includes a cover portion 10 and a body portion 20 hinged to one side of the cover portion 10. The cover portion 10 is made of a rigid material and has a raised top 14 with rounded edges and corners. Two wheels 13 are symmetrically mounted to a lower sidewall of the cover portion 10 near a lower left and a lower right corner thereof. The body portion 20 is also made of a rigid material. Therefore, the cover portion 10 and the body portion 20 can respectively maintain a fixed shape. The body portion 20 includes a base section 21 and an extension section in the form of a loop-shaped frame for telescopically fitted in the base section 21. Both of the base section 21 and the extension section 22 are made of a rigid material to provide sufficient structural strength needed to maintain the hard luggage case in a fixed shape and support things packed in the hard luggage case. The extension section 22 has a depth larger than that of the base section 21, enabling the hard luggage case with the extension section 22 fitted in the base section 21 to have an expanded receiving space.

Another two wheels 13 are symmetrically mounted to a lower sidewall of the body portion 20 near a lower left and a lower right corner thereof. With the two pairs of wheels 13, the hard luggage case can be freely and easily moved around by a user. The hard luggage case of the present invention further includes an extendable structure 30 provided between the base section 21 and the extension section 22. The extendable structure 30 is a tubular member 31 made of a flexible material. In the illustrated embodiment, the tubular member 31 is formed by sewing two or more pieces of woven fabric together. The extendable structure 30 is connected at two axially opposite ends to the base section 21 and the extension section 22, such that a user may stretch the tubular member 31 in an axial direction thereof to increase the receiving space defined between the base section 21 and the extension section 22 when necessary. A first fastening structure 32 having two mating parts is provided along two facing ends of the base section 21 and the extension section 22. In the illustrated embodiment, the first fastening structure 32 is a zipper 33 having a first tooth row and a mating second tooth row, which are correspondingly sewed to along the facing ends of the base section 21 and the extension section 22. When the tubular member 31 is in a folded or collapsed state, the zipper 33 can be closed to fixedly hold the extension section 22 to the base section 21, preventing the body portion 20 from unexpected expansion.

It is understood the above description about the types and materials of the tubular member 31 is only exemplary and not intended to limit the present invention in any way. That is, the tubular member 31 can be otherwise a bellow or a netlike structure, depending on actual need in use. Further, the tubular member 31 can be otherwise made of any flexible sheet material selected from the group consisting of nonwoven cloth, leather, and plastic materials.

Further, a second fastening structure 11 is provided between the cover portion 10 and the extension section 22 to openably close the cover portion 10 to an open side of the body portion 20. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the second fastening structure 11 is a zipper 12 being correspondingly sewed to along facing ends of the cover portion 10 and the extension section 22 of the body portion 20. It is understood the second fastening structure 11 is not necessarily limited to a zipper but can be other forms, such as a set of male and female fasteners or a tie string, depending on actual need in use. A carry handle 23 is provided to a lateral sidewall of the extension section 22. More specifically, the carry handle 23 includes two mounting ends and a grip portion extended between the two mounting ends, and is fixedly connected at the mounting ends to the lateral sidewall of the extension section 22.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a hard luggage case according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 is generally structurally similar to that illustrated in FIG. 3, except that the cover portion 10 is configured as a low-profile cover, which includes a loop-shaped frame 15 and a covering 16 enveloping the frame 15; and that the two pairs of wheels 13 are correspondingly mounted to the lower sidewalls of the base section 21 and the extension section 22 because the cover portion 10 is too thin to support the wheels 13 thereto. That is, the wheels 13 are suitably distributed on the lower sidewall of the body portion 20 for supporting the whole hard luggage case in an upright position.

It is understood the above description about the positions and quantity of the wheels 13 is only illustrative and not intended to limit the present invention in any way. For example, depending on actual need in use, it is also possible to provide only two wheels 13 and mount the same near the lower left and the lower right corner of the base section 21 of the body portion 20 while two legs can be mounted to the lower sidewall of the cover portion 10 or the extension section 22.

Please refer to FIG. 5 that illustrates the use of the hard luggage case of the present invention. When a user packs the hard luggage case with things and finds the original receiving space in the hard luggage case is not sufficient for use, the user needs only to open the first zipper 33 to separate the first and the second tooth row from each other and axially stretch the tubular member 31, and the receiving space in the hard luggage case can be expanded. Since the tubular member 31 of the extendable structure 30 is provided on the body portion 20, the user can easily visually determine the remaining receiving space available in the hard luggage case after the extendable structure 30 has been axially stretched. In this manner, the hard luggage case may be advantageously used to provide the largest possible capacity for carrying things.

In brief, the present invention is characterized in a hard luggage case that has rigid walls to provide lightweight but strong structure; a body portion including an extension section telescopically fitted in a base section; and an extendable structure connected to between the extension section and the base section of the body portion for axially stretching to expand the receiving space in the hard luggage case. And, by providing the extendable structure on the body portion instead of the cover portion of the hard luggage case, a user can conveniently stretch the tubular member and easily visually determine the remaining receiving space available in the luggage case.

The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A hard luggage case, comprising: a cover portion; a body portion including a base section and an extension section telescopically fitted in the base section; the base section and the extension section being made of a rigid material to maintain the luggage case in a fixed shape and to provide required supporting strength; at least one extendable structure being configured as a tubular member made of a flexible material and being connected at two axially opposite ends to the base section and the extension section; a first fastening structure being correspondingly connected to along two facing ends of the base section and the extension section; and a second fastening structure being correspondingly connected to along two facing ends of the cover portion and the extension section.
 2. The hard luggage case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the extendable structure is a tubular member formed by sewing woven fabrics together.
 3. The hard luggage case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first fastening structure is a zipper having a first and a second tooth row correspondingly connected to along the facing ends of the base section and the extension section of the body portion, respectively.
 4. The hard luggage case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second fastening structure is a zipper having a first and a second tooth row correspondingly connected to along the facing ends of the cover portion and the extension section of the body portion, respectively.
 5. The hard luggage case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cover portion is made of a rigid material and has a raised top with rounded edges and corners; and wherein the cover portion and the body portion respectively have two wheels symmetrically mounted near a lower left and a lower right corner thereof.
 6. The hard luggage case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base section and the extension section of the body portion respectively have two wheels symmetrically mounted near a lower left and a lower right corner thereof, such that the wheels are evenly distributed on a lower sidewall of the body portion. 